A couple today told how they were pushed to breaking point by a vindictive neighbour who waged a 15-month hate campaign against them.

Brian and Dorothy Bowles had their Basildon home splattered with paint five times by Colin Evans, causing around £25,000 damage.

Evans became so obssessed with his campaign that he drove 200 miles in the middle of the night to wage war on them from his new home in Cambridgeshire.

Evans, a builder, pleaded guilty to five counts of criminal damage after police found a balaclava and shirt used in attacks in his car. Searches of his home also revealed receipts for the paint.

The experience had profound effects on Mr Bowles, 63, a service engineer, and wife Mrs Bowles, 56, an IT worker of Kingswood, Basildon. She said: "You feel like you are being stigmatised because people wonder why you are being targeted like this. You find yourself always looking over your shoulder, never sure what you will find when you get home or wake up."

Evans, 46, will be sentenced at a later date after being remanded in custody.

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